“Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah…has prevailed…And I looked, and behold…stood a Lamb as though it has just been slain.” Rev 5:5,6

In verse 5 John the Revelator describes a vision of Jesus as a powerful, fearful yet majestic Lion. As his knocking knees buckled, verse 6 says he lifted his eyes and the One in the vision has been mystically transformed into a gentle, mercy-filled, irresistibly approachable Lamb. So which is Jesus, a Lion or a Lamb? How you answer this question is much more than a theological matter. Our perception of Who Jesus is and how He interacts with us has far-reaching implications for how we live. It can also have a direct impact on our ability to stand firm in our faith as the darkness around us increases in these days.

In truth, our finite, natural minds tend to latch on to Jesus as either a Lamb, or a Lion. Understandably, we struggle to comprehend how He could be both; and in our ambivalence, we gravitate towards Him, and join others in forming camps, around one depiction or the other. Though we may give mental assent that scripture describes God as an extravagant and open-armed Father as well as a fire-eyed Warrior who exacts vengeance, like a magnet we tend to be strongly pulled towards one and repelled by the other.

Throughout Church history trends have varied. Whole generations passed when the roar of the Lion is what echoed from pulpits. People were brought to conviction, were vigilant to obey, had a keen sense of Christian duty and a vocal intolerance of sin. Believers raised in these times spoke of the fear of the Lord not as some ancient, Old Testament and inferior understanding. The posture of the worshiper was reverence, of bowing before the One who is holy. This actually is the way that many Christians around the world still approach their God and King.

The messages in our churches today, especially in the West, have shifted and reflect our clear preference to exalt not just a Father, but a “Dad”, One who is ever-accepting, non-condemning, and full of grace. Those in the “Lamb Camp” don’t talk much about God as Judge, or as holy. When is the last time you heard someone talk about the fear of the Lord? Some would even cringe at the suggestion God is to be feared; they have a list of scriptures to prove that such talk is very old fashioned!

The irony of this contradiction can be seen in our chatter about revival. While it is true that some revivals have been characterized by healing and laughter, a reflection of the Lamb’s character, it is also true that many others have been very Lion-like. People in these moves of God spoke of being “undone”, of coming under deep conviction of sin, even being led to public confession of transgressions. Those coming out of the great revival of China in the 80’s wrote songs of war, of radical obedience, even dying for the cause of Christ. If we are only oriented around our one-sided Lamb perspective, we may miss, reject, even criticize what we see when God answers our prayers to pour out His Spirit!

Consequences of clinging to our preferred concept of Jesus as Lion or Lamb can be as “harmless” as a missed opportunity and as grave as our faith becoming shipwrecked. A total buy-in of Jesus as a Lamb, or embracing His comforting, advocating qualities, can leave believers storm-tossed and confused when harsh trials such as outbreaks of disease and wars, or persecution, pummel us. But people who are singly bent on seeing Jesus through a Lion prism also face dangers. They tend towards expressions of faith that are rigid, ritualistic and law-bound…lifeless. They can fall short in accessing the grace of God to heal and refresh. They may find themselves struggling to live with contentment. This too may lead to a falling away when times get really tough.

Frankly, sometimes we need to fall at His feet as though dead. At other times, we need to, in childlike hilarity, run as fast as we can and jump as high as we can only to be caught in His pillowed and liberating embrace. Jesus is not either a Lion or a Lamb. He is both a Lamb and a Lion. To truly know Him is to grow to appreciate and worship these two incredible though opposite aspects of His nature. My prayer is each one of us would press on to know God exactly as He is*, not tinged or tainted by the prevailing, culture- and time-bound images of our Savior.

“Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord…” Hos 6:3

*Hosea 6:1-3 nicely juxtaposes these two dialectical notions, as do many other scriptures. May this article whet your appetite to mine for more of these treasures from the wonders of His Word. If you have some, I’d love to hear from you!

“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married women,
says the Lord.” IS 54:1

Scripture is full of paradoxes. The poor are made rich, the weak strong, the humble lifted up. In reading the Word, we are continually confronted with real life stories of situations which are downright shocking. Seas and rivers part. City Walls fall flat. Donkeys talk. Magi from distant lands travel for months following a star representing the arrival of a long awaited Lord and King, only to find him wrapped in strips of cloth, a baby bedded in an animal’s feeding trough.

Likewise, we see outcomes to stories which are phenomenal, seemingly scripted; and yet they are as real as any of the stories ever written. We see a man, a foreigner, imprisoned in a dungeon who, in the short span of a day, rose to become the Prime Minister over a powerful Kingdom. We see a man who faced hanging on a massive, 25 meter high gallows only to have the tables turn on the very man plotting his execution hung upon it instead. We see an “army” of 300 men without any weapons, each blowing a trumpet and holding a torch, defeating an entire nation’s army who were arrayed against them. We see a man stripped naked, crucified and buried only to rise again from the dead on the third day. We must be careful not to read these things as fiction—fanciful stories made for entertainment and embellished to attract more readers or forward a narrative to give people false hope.

These things really happened. They are 100% true, and trustworthy. God would not allow even the smell of a lie to be recorded in His Word. Our God did these things. He is altogether awesome, and these stories are on full display to convince us that He is incomparably wonderful, capable, and faithful. Amen.

And so we come to the words of the prophet Isaiah. A barren woman is told to sing. A lady who has unsuccessfully attempted to get pregnant for years is told she is going to have more children than a woman who has already conceived—that in fact she is going to have such a tribe of them that she better get busy adding numerous rooms and gathering a lot of furnishings to accommodate an abundance of boys and girls. If we didn’t have all these other stories to look back on, we might think he is just being a masterful poet, using hyperbole and metaphor to concoct a message to dazzle his readers. But Isaiah did not play his prophetic fiddle to make the children of Israel dance. His words so angered them that they conclusively sawed him in two! This was not about being creative or politically correct. He was stating something startlingly TRUE, yet paradoxical, that situations which appear impossibly bleak and depressing are routinely recreated to brilliantly billboard God’s redemption, power, and love. Promises long shredded and filed away in the dustbin by this desperate woman were about to be recovered, restored, and fulfilled.

Naturally speaking, the progressive realization one was barren was a most painful, disheartening and pandemic-sized diagnoses. More than a physical malady, being unable to bear children meant that Shame, Rejection, Guilt, Fear, and Dashed Dreams would be one’s lifelong companions. The flood of negative emotions that oppressed a woman in ancient times as she faced this bitter truth would reverberate condemnation like the blow of a Judge’s gavel. The woman is the mirror was bereft, stricken, cursed. Family gatherings became a cacophony of whispers from kinfolk. The shifting eyes or passer-bys, the huddled women in the markets, the ever more frequent pointing of a crooked, careless finger. The awareness that her husband was on the lookout for her replacement, someone to give him pleasure, empowering him to produce offspring and build a legacy.

And yet the Lord says, “Sing!” Lift up your song of praise. Cry aloud your hymns of thanksgiving and adoration. This simple yet profound act of of faith is the first and most crucial step in unlocking Hope’s promises. Once one is pregnant with Heaven’s implanted Word, babies are not far behind. Out of intolerable travail a holy assurance is fantastically birthed and a confession sired: my season of barrenness has been preparing me for barn-filled years of bounty. God never answers us with a period. He surrounds his delivered ones with shouts of joy!!! Whatever He touches is healed and prospers. Whatsoever He blesses multiplies. His Spirit never comes in drops; He is poured.

“More are the children of the desolate”. As the scourge of your own season of barrenness sunsets, kiss Shame and her companions good-bye. It’s time streeeetch your curtains wide and expand your tent aggressively to the right and to the left. Those who overcome desolation are the very ones God assigns to “make the desolate cities inhabited” (v.3). Such is the power of your redemption you will “forget the shame of our youth and will not remember the reproach of our widowhood anymore” (v.4) Such is beautiful stories the world witnesses whenever barren ones begin to sing.

“For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
With a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you.
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.” IS 54:7,8